Callfilter
Even greater protection: suspicious call warnings
Swisscom is launching a new function for its Callfilter: the ‘Warning: suspected spam’ alert enables customers to identify potential advertising and scam calls at a glance.
Ever since 2016, Swisscom’s Callfilter function has been blocking calls that it identifies as having a high probability of being unwanted advertising calls. This blocks around 8 million spam calls every month. Swisscom is now improving its protection against unwanted calls even further: effective immediately, a warning will be displayed for calls that appear suspicious but cannot be blocked outright. Such calls are still put through, but with a new message on the display: ‘Warning: suspected spam’. This enables customers to decide immediately whether or not to take the call.
“Unwanted advertising and scam calls can be extremely annoying and cause concern. The new warning improves everyday security and alerts customers the moment a call comes in,” says Dirk Wierzbitzki, Head of Residential Customers and Member of the Executive Committee of Swisscom Switzerland. “This provides simple, practical guidance to our customers precisely when they need it.”
Free of charge and with no customer effort
The message is displayed on smartphone screens (irrespective of the model) and supported fixed-network telephones. Calls are automatically assessed based on various criteria, such as anomalies in the phone number, the time of the call and previous customer complaints.
Customers do not have to do anything to use the new feature. The only requirement is that their Callfilter function is enabled, which is the default setting for all customers. This function can be disabled or re-enabled free of charge at any time under Products in the Security area of My Swisscom. Even prepaid users and sub-brand customers benefit from the Callfilter and the new function. In addition to the advanced Callfilter, the options ‘Block anonymous calls’ and ‘Block calls without caller ID’ further enhance customer protection.
